Chapter 11: Jun's World (A Painful Reunion)

"Mommy, I wanna' train too," Jun said to her mother one day.

Her mother had just come home from work and had sat down to watch some television. She smiled at her sweet daughter and placed a warming hand on her head.

"Now where did all of this come from?"

"Well, how can I help people if I can't even defend myself?"

"Jun, this wouldn't have anything to do with that boy?"

Jun gave her an innocent look. "The only thing he ever does is fight all day so the only way I can spend any time with him is if I say I can fight too—then we could train together!"

"Jun, honey, it isn't that simple."

"Yes it is," she said enthusiastically.

"Who's to say he'll want to train with you even if you can keep up? Maybe his father doesn't want you to."

"Once he sees that I can be really helpful, he'll have to let me train with him."

"Jun…"

"Please! Train me!"

"Oh, alright."

"Will it be really intense?"

"Training doesn't have to be hard. It isn't just meant to be painful—it is meant to be a balance of pain and satisfaction. Alright, I'll teach you the basics. I guess I haven't really been keeping up that well either."

And so the Kazama-style Karate commenced the very next day and she started Jun off with the basics—light weight training and learning technique. It was the perfect excuse for mother and daughter to spend more quality time. While Jun was a fast learner and had a purpose in mind, she found herself completely relaxed. They would joke and carry on as if they were spending their time in the park rather than the gym. After a month of training, Jun finally began to develop her skill as she practiced molding all the techniques she had learned into powerful combinations of attacks. Soon the mother found herself simply watching her daughter in awe. Perhaps she really could accomplish what she set out to do.

When Jun felt she was ready, she set off to Heihachi's mansion after school (she currently attended pre-school). Her mom was supposed to go with her, but she had snuck out of the house. She searched for them in their usual spot in the big field behind the mansion, but then she eyed another building off to the side and decided to see if they were there. She didn't bother checking the main house as they would never be there at this time of day. She jogged cheerfully through the large field until she arrived at the place she wanted and knocked on the door. No one came to the door. Then she knocked again. Jun was faced with the same result.

"Hey! Is anyone in there!" Jun shouted as she banged at the door now.

"If it isn't Jun, our happy-go-lucky neighbor," said an older man's voice.

Jun turned suddenly to the new voice. She wasn't sure when he had gotten there without her knowing, but she didn't dwell on that fact. "You're Heihachi."

"That's correct. Now what brings you here?"

"I came to train with Kazuya. I've been training too, you know, and I know I could keep up."

"The sad part is, you probably could—even a girl could best that little shrimp," Heihachi replied while shaking his head in pity, "However, it looks like you came all this way for nothing. Your 'friend' has had a terrible accident—I'm afraid he's dead."

"What?" Jun said with surprise.

"What's wrong? You don't understand what 'death' is either?"

"No…that's not it," Jun replied with a shaky voice. "Just like that…he's gone. I'm too late. If I had come here yesterday…What happened? Did he get too exhausted or something?"

"He slipped and fell," Heihachi said.

This was the first time he had tried this excuse on anyone and he wondered if she would buy it.

Jun gave him a disbelieving look. "So he slipped…and fell. From where?"

"From a cliff, of course."

"Of course?" Jun asked wondering how anyone would automatically jump to the conclusion of a cliff.

Heihachi frowned at her.

"What was he doing on a cliff and why did he get so close to the edge of it? Who does that?" Jun shook her head, "Kazuya wouldn't do that."

"Oh, and suddenly you know Kazuya so well. It's amazing what you find out once someone's dead, isn't it?"

"Well, Kazuya isn't dead."

"What?" Now it was Heihachi's turn to become confused. "What do you mean?"

"Because slipping and falling isn't enough to kill someone like Kazuya off—that's if he even slipped."

Heihachi laughed at her naiveté, "Do yourself a favor and go home."

Jun stood her ground for a moment longer before leaving. When she got home, she never stopped crying. The only thing that had comforted her was the cat she had saved from the street and kept sheltered in the forest. It was because she kept visiting him that she had come upon Kazuya once again on that fateful day, though drastically changed. That had been enough though. It was enough to know that he was alive…but he wasn't well.

She regretted everyday her cowardice when she had ran away from him when he needed her most. When she also heard that Jinpachi had not given up hope on his grandson, she told him everything she knew about Kazuya. She knew he was alive, but he was still gone. Days felt like weeks as she continued with her school and perfecting her Karate style.

Then one day, finally Kazuya existed once again. She had received a call from Jinpachi himself that Kazuya was alive and well and that he would be living with him from now on. Jun was ecstatic. Now that Kazuya was out from under Heihachi's heavy hand, she might even be able to visit him without having to train with him.

She waited a few days before she made herself known. Jinpachi had mentioned that it would take him a bit to adjust to normal living. What semblance of it he had had back when he was perhaps three was probably by now all forgotten. Even if her face was familiar, she had not wanted to make anything harder than it needed to be—so she was patient.

Eventually she found herself knocking on the giant front door of Jinpachi's mansion. It wasn't Jinpachi who answered it, but the doorman.

"Um, hi, I'm Jun. I wanted to visit Kazuya."

"Ah, yes, Jinpachi said you might be visiting today. He's probably in his room. I'll take you to him."

Jun followed the man (who seemed to be both a doorman and an escort) as he smoothly guided her through a maze of stairs and rooms. The door was closed when they arrived at his room and the doorman/escort left Jun immediately possibly to return to his previous post. Now that she was here in front of his door, she felt a little nervous. How would he be like now? Her mind kept returning to the last time she had seen him. He had been so different then. Would he really want to see her now? Wasn't she just a nuisance to him now? Jun shook her head when she began to doubt in her validity of being there. There really was no time for that kind of thinking—not now. She had made it so far. She had been patient. Now was her time. Even if he rejected her, she promised herself that there would be no hard feelings.

She knocked on the door lightly and then with more force. Both times he did not come to the door. Finally, with a sigh, she turned the doorknob which, to her surprise, was open. The door opened quietly and she stepped in. Her eyes automatically went to Kazuya. He sat in one of the two windowsills that were in the room. This one was large enough to fit a small child in and he had the blinds rolled all the way up so his view to the outside world was unobstructed.

"Kazuya…?" Jun spoke almost at a whisper.

He seemed to have a rather faraway look on his face as he gazed through the window. When she was close enough, she tried getting his attention again.

"What are you looking at?"

"Isn't it beautiful…Grandfather's garden?" Kazuya said as if he were talking to himself.

Jun walked up a little closer to get a better view, "Wow, it really is. There are so many colors."

"And so many different varieties."

Jun glanced over at his desk nearby and noticed a letter. Since Kazuya didn't seem to be paying much attention to her, she picked it up and began reading it.

"Hm, who's this Becky," Jun said quietly.

Then she heard some movement behind her and she quickly turned to the source of it. Kazuya had climbed out of the window and had only then set his eyes on the other.

"Ah, Jun, of course it had to be you," Kazuya said after looking her over.

"And what does that mean?" Jun asked slightly perturbed.

"Who else in the world would bother coming to visit me?"

Jun's eyes softened when he said this. Maybe there was still a chance…maybe they could still be friends. "You don't mind do you?"

"It doesn't matter one way or the other if you suddenly feel the urge to visit. But what does matter…is that letter you're holding," Kazuya said advancing upon her, "You have no business with it."

Jun sidestepped when he was close enough still holding the letter. "Oh this letter," Jun asked teasingly. She held it up and shook it playfully towards him.

He grabbed for it again, but she evaded just as easily with a small laugh, "You'll have to chase me for it."

"Jun, I'm not playing around. Give it here already!"

"Chase me."

"No."

"Suit yourself then." Jun held the piece of paper up and began reading a line of it aloud. "'Kazuya, I guess I can say this 'cus I'm just writing it, but I really really like you' Oooo, you lovebirds!"

"Out of all the sentences, you choose that one—that's not even the main point. Stop reading it out of context!"

"Make me."

"I'm not gonna' chase you."

"Okay, next line."

Suddenly, Jun felt herself being tackled to the ground with surprising force—she hadn't even seen him coming in that one moment when she had looked down to read. Jun rolled over to her stomach with her hands underneath so she could keep the letter unattainable. She felt him over top of her trying to pull her off the floor. When this didn't work, he tried to push from the side. He did this with more fervor and she was successfully pushed over, but she slipped the letter under her back just as Kazuya thought that he had her cornered. And suddenly they were rolling all over the floor, one trying to take advantage of the other.

"You're not gonna' get it," Jun said breathlessly, "'cus you won't chase me."

"Jun, stop playing around. I don't want to chase you—I just want the letter."

He grabbed for it again when she held it teasingly in his view, but he was a lot quicker than last time and his hand got ahold of a part of the paper. Jun had been holding it betwixt her two fingers rather firmly. When the bottom and top part of the sheet was pulled in separate directions, the inevitable occurred—it ripped. It was a rather fast event and neither of them saw it coming. Jun was mute as Kazuya stared at his half of the letter in utter disbelief as if it was impossible for papers to rip, as if it was meant to be indestructible.

When Jun saw his shoulders drop, she stepped over, picked up one of his motionless hands and gently placed the other half in it. "Paper can always be taped back together."

He put the two halves on top of one another and then ripped them in half once again and then repeated the process over and over until they were little squares.

"Kazuya!" Jun said with surprise.

"It was trash anyways."

"But that really seemed like a heartfelt letter. I think…she really wanted to get through to you."

"If you felt so strongly about it, maybe you shouldn't have played around with it like it was some cheap toy."

"Are you trying to punish me? I really don't get you."

"No, I wouldn't waste my time."

There was no trash can anywhere nearby so he simply sprinkled the lined yellow pieces of paper on the carpet. Jun sat down in front of where he sat on the floor.

"Listen, if you liked her back, it's okay to—

"I never liked her."

"You might have or else you wouldn't have kept it."

"I forgot to throw it away."

Before Kazuya even knew it, he found himself being embraced wholeheartedly by Jun. His arms twitched once to return the favor, but he stopped himself. It became hard to breath as if his throat was closing up, as if it were some allergic reaction to her closeness.

"Jun…that's enough…just let go of me," Kazuya managed.

She didn't seem to listen; she only seemed to hold him tighter. She only suspected something was wrong when he began convulsing.

"Kazuya!"

She pinned him to the ground quickly and firmly and held him there until he stilled after a few minutes.

"Kazuya! What's—

"You should leave."

He wasn't even looking at her any longer. His head was turned to one side as he looked towards the bedpost. Jun, of course, did not pull back—not until she knew fully what was happening. However, she had not expected Kazuya to have enough strength to toss her off and he did so at that moment.

"Go!"

"You don't really want me to leave," Jun said looking squarely at him.

"No…but that's the problem. Before, when you came in, I hated you, just like I hate every other person. But just now…it was different—so that's why you must leave."

"Kazuya, you know that doesn't make sense. All you're doing is contradicting yourself and stuff. I'm gonna' stay awhile longer. Is that alright?"

Kazuya blinked back twice at her forwardness. "Um...yes…I mean, no."

"Pick one," Jun said simply as she stepped forward.

But she found that she couldn't come any closer—it was as if some strange, invisible barrier surrounded him. She wasn't entirely certain what it was until she tried to overcome it. Then images began flashing through her mind, they came so quickly that she had no idea what to make of them—she only knew that there was something evil about them, but she didn't want to run; not like last time. She forced her way through. That was when she saw the red eyes; not from Kazuya himself but in her mind. The desire to run was even stronger now, but still she held her ground.

And Kazuya seemed in pain. He had backed up from her slowly in the beginning, but when he realized that Jun would not be retreating—he stopped bothering with it. There was really no emotion on his face that would even suggest pain, but Jun had seen the way he clutched at his chest—as if there was something there and indeed there was. The scar which had never bothered him before felt at that moment as if something was trying to rip it back open again. It was so much so that he thought it might have been bleeding by now, but nothing of the sort occurred. Jun continued to approach him until she was able to place one hand on his shoulders—and that was enough. He could no longer fight the weakness and Kazuya soon found himself on the floor despite himself.

"Kazuya…"

But she saw as he silently cringed in a pain that Jun was unsure of where it came from or the source of it was. Jun decided that she would lie down beside him despite the fact that the images had never stopped, despite feeling as if someone was pounding her head in with a hammer. Even her vision began to fade so she could no longer make out Kazuya's face.

"My mommy said….that if you pretend to close your eyes long enough, you'll eventually fall asleep no matter what," Jun said in a tiny voice that tried to sound loud enough so that Kazuya could hear.

"You know what my father said? Only weaklings cry."

Jun was surprised to notice that moisture had sprung to her eyes—it was her usual reaction when it came to such tedious pain. She wiped them away despite herself.

"I won't cry," Jun said defiantly.

"I think I'll try…your method," he said referring to her previous advice.

Kazuya knew instinctively that she was the reason for the position he found himself in and it worsened the longer she stayed near him. What was stranger was the fact that he had heard no protests from Devil. After all, it was Devil who wanted to use his body for its own gain. At that moment, it had remained unresponsive.

Jun too knew that Kazuya was the cause of her current headache, but he had not demanded that she leave and she didn't. Despite knowing that she would feel much better if she simply left, she stayed in his presence; as long as she knew that she was wanted, she was willing to stay awhile longer.

"Kazuya?" she asked for reassurance, "Did you want me to leave?"

Bur she heard no answer. Perhaps he had already fallen asleep. Wanting more warmth, she moved in closer to him—she heard no objections. Then she placed her head near his chest so that she could hear his heartbeat. When she listened, it sounded as if someone was knocking frantically on a door—his heart was practically racing. She pulled a little closer and still she heard no complaint. Eventually, she too fell asleep.

An angel and a demon found themselves in each other's presence, finding solace only in the other's warmth, despite the contradiction. They were both immensely uncomfortable, but neither of them wanted to separate.

Later into the night, Jinpachi came to check in on Kazuya. He smiled when he saw the scene before him and quietly shut the door again as he walked out.